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Salman Rushdie and the fatwa

The story of how Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses led to a call for his killing, forcing the writer into years of hiding.

The Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie was recently stabbed on stage at an event in New York state more than three decades after Iran issued a fatwa calling for his assassination. He is currently recovering in hospital. The novelist spent years in hiding after his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, prompted accusations of blasphemy. So why did a novel provoke such an strong reaction? Ritula Shah looks back at the story of the author, the book and the fatwa.

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49 minutes

Last on

Sat 20 Aug 2022 14:06GMT
BBC World Service News Internet

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Contributors

Baroness D’Souza - Former chair of the International Rushdie Defence Committee

Dr Farzana Shaikh - Pakistan and South Asia analyst at the foreign affairs think tank Chatham House

Razia Iqbal - BBC Newshour presenter and former BBC arts correspondent who has interviewed Salman Rushdie several times

Image

Author Salman Rushdie gestures during a news conference before the presentation of his book 'Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights' at the Niemeyer Center in Avilés, northern Spain, October 7, 2015 - Credit: REUTERS / Eloy Alonso / File Photo

Broadcasts

  • Fri 19 Aug 2022 09:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Fri 19 Aug 2022 23:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Sat 20 Aug 2022 03:06GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Sat 20 Aug 2022 14:06GMT
    BBC World Service News Internet

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